Vocalist'Gilberto Diaz' led a band with a very typical "conjunto sound" in the mid 1960's in Miami Florida, reminiscent of Roberto Faz's Conj. Casino.A tight band with a great swing.They have three recordings, this is the best one, includes a nice version of "Bacunayagua"that 'Conjunto Saratoga' also did.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Lou Peréz was born in New York City in 1921, his father was Cuban, his mother Puerto Rican.He and his parents moved to Cuba when he was four years old, then moved back to the the U.S. when he was 12 or 13 years old.

A "masterful musician and arranger", 'Lou Peréz' wrote between 300 and 500 compositions, played drums and vibraphone, his main instruments were flute and piano. He also sang.As a young musician, he was involved in the bands of Gilberto Valdés, Noro Morales and Belisario López among many others.He wrote music for T.V. commercials and films as well.

'Lou Peréz' very sadly died in N.Y.C. in 2005, the result a car accident. He was 77 years old.One of his sons, 'Ron' is a V.P. of a computer corp., his other son 'Louis A. Perez Jr.' is a professor at the University Of North Carolina and author of the following books:"Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution" - 1988"Cuba and the United States" -1990"Guide to Cuban Collections in the United States" - 1991"Cuba" - 1995"On Becoming Cuban" - 2001"Cuba: Picturing Change" - 2002"To Die In Cuba" - 2005(all 7 books available on Amazon.com)

I never had the good fortune to play with Lou Peréz , although I met him several times near the end of his life. He was a true gentleman, very personable... with great soul.This is not a definitive discography or biography, just twelve great recordings by him.I really like Lou's music and his playing, and that he chose to have 'Marcelino Guerra' singing on several of these LP's.

Elena Madera was from N.Y.C. with a Cuban mother & West Indian father.Her singing style and voice was brusque, harsh & screechy ("torrid"?)... but Lou's arrangements and band sound great .Early 1960'svinyl LP, nothing really special.

6. Hermosa Tierra

11. Canto Karabali

"Tamboleo"1964?Marcelino Guerra: coro(Reissued on CD but they took everything from vinyl)

The odd thing about this is that the songs are the same as on the LP"Of Latin Extraction".. but the mixes are different. For example, on "Adios Amor", Lou Perez is singing... but the same song on the LP "Of Latin Extraction" below, there is no vocal.I have listened to both recordings closely, these are the same songs, but perhaps these may be the original 'rough mixes' before the actual LP "Of Latin Extraction" was released.Marcelino Guerra is definitely singing, but there is no mention of his name and no mention of Alejandro "El Negro" Vivar on trumpet or Alberto Fajardo & Pupy Legarreta on the LP.

Marcelino "Rapindey" Guerra sings on several songs as well as in the coro and Alejandro "El Negro" Vivar plays trumpet on one song, but their names are not listed on the LP."Cachao" plays his ass off!!

This is the "N95" made by the 3M company.This is the better mask to have.The masks you see them giving to people in the street in Mexico are of very poor quality and inferior compared to the "N95".(Do you really think they're giving them the proper masks)I just bought a box of 20 for $17.95, I'll keep a few and give a few to my Mother who is 82 years old.

I'm in New York City, where the highest "confirmed cases" have been found in the U.S.If you go down into the Subway system, you encounter people who are sneezing and coughing all over the place. If you have to get on an airplane... the "N95" is the mask to have.(short of having to buy a respirator)

Some of you may laugh this off, and some of you are "realists".My ex girlfriend actually thinks this is all bullshit and we are being "lied to" and it's all a "conspiracy" and there's no such thing as "Swine Flu".

Of the many contemporary "young generation" of groups playing Son & Guaracha in Cuba, 'Septeto Turquino' is one of my favorites.Great tres playing, tight vocals and a bongocero with his own interesting style that swings.Their earlier three recordings are for me are their best, the addition of trombone in the later recordings I'm not too crazy about.

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Welcome to Fidels Eyeglasses!

Cuban LP's and recordings which include particular "styles" and "forms" of (playing & singing) "Cuban" music that unfortunately have become, or are on their way to becoming lost art forms.As well as related materiel which may not be "directly" from Cuba.

Mostly LP's that are either long out of print and-or obscure and music from "my own personal collection".

Occasionally some Brasilian things will be added that are hard to find, even on the other great Brasilian blogs, many that are listed in my Blog links.And maybe some things that have nothing to do with Cuban or Brasilian music.

It takes time to do all this, scanning the covers, resizing and uploading, often changing & correcting the info.

****NOTE: DIVSHARE HAS GONE OUT OF BUSINESS WHICH MEANS MANY HUNDREDS OF SOUND FILES ON THIS BLOG WHICH TOOK 6 YEARS TO COMPILE ARE DEAD, SOME ARE STILL PLAYABLE, BUT UNTIL I FIND A NEW SOUND FILE HOST SERVICE, MANY WON'T PLAY.

About Me

Professional musician / percussionist.
Living, working and teaching in Manhattan, N.Y.C., U.S.A.
Born and raised in Manhattan, N.Y.C.
Lived in New Orleans from 1972 to 1986.
Produced and hosted the first Cuban music radio program in New Orleans on WWOZ from 1980-1986.
Been back in N.Y.C. 28 years and planing on getting the hell out very soon.